All eyes are on the residents of the northern half of Vancouver’s ‘green’ collection zone as they become the first in the city to shift to a new garbage and recycling collection schedule.
Beginning this week, residents of single-family and duplex homes between Manitoba Street and Welwyn Street, and 37th Avenue north to Great Northern Way will see weekly green bin and blue box pick-up, with garbage collection changing to every other week.
Over the ... Read More …

I wrote a story in Saturday’s paper (Nov. 24) letting Vancouver homeowners know what to expect in the coming years when it comes to the price at the tap.
Water rates are expected to go up three per cent next year, driven primarily by increases passed on by the regional water supplier, Metro Vancouver.
For single-family homeowners charged a flat annual fee, it will add, on average, about $15 to the tax bill.
Metered customers ... Read More …

The City of Vancouver will expand food scraps collection to all single family and duplex homes early in 2013.
To accommodate the changing balance of waste heading to landfill, beginning next spring the city will reduce the frequency of garbage pickup from weekly to bi-weekly and increase yard and food waste pickup from bi-weekly to weekly.
According to the city, food scraps make up 40 per cent of the waste stream.
Council will also require ... Read More …

The dumpster behind Trafalgar’s Bistro and Sweet Obsession bakery has been replaced with a City of Vancouver residential garbage can. But the two eateries can’t even fill that any more.
Until a few months ago the dumpster had to be emptied three or four times a week at a cost of almost $1,000 a month and the contents were just sent to the landfill. The two food businesses were already recycling just about everything, but ... Read More …

I always find it interesting to go somewhere else and see what is making top news. So while it may not be the first thing on everyone’s vacation to-do list, I always grab a local newspaper.
In Tucson Arizona, the front page news is that national unemployment had dropped to its lowest level since 2009, and now sits at 8.6 per cent. That’s in contrast to British Columbia which saw its unemployment rate go up ... Read More …

The Fray restaurant on Fraser Street and 24th is a new East Van eatery that has been opened in an area distinctly short of local food and drink options. It was set up (by me and my business partner – full disclosure) to serve as the trigger for, hopefully, a legion of other businesses to follow, turning around an area that has a long reputation for seedy dealings.
We’re happy with the place, and the ... Read More …

Earlier this week, I posted a guest column by Sun reporter Kim Pemberton about special-needs students in a Vancouver school being assigned to recycling duty. Here is her second installment on that issue:
It seems from my vantage point people talk about wanting to do their best to ensure meaningful inclusion of students with special needs but the bottom line is it isn’t working well in Vancouver. One only has to look at how well ... Read More …

The following guest post was written by my colleague Kim Pemberton:
While waiting for a meeting with administration at my daughter’s high school recently I recognized two developmentally delayed young men, who attend the life skills class there, rummaging through a garbage can.
One of them was on his hands and knees wearing over-sized plastic yellow gloves picking out plastic bottles and juice containers. A couple of typical students passed by them laughing.
What troubled ... Read More …